RDAs under fire

Friday

Mar 11, 2011 at 7:04 AMMar 11, 2011 at 7:05 AM

Steve Williams

Increasingly, given California's dire — and growing more dire by the minute — financial straits, Gov. Jerry Brown is focusing his attention on redevelopment agencies. Brown says he wants to eliminate redevelopment programs, which send money from the state to cities and counties in the amount of $1.7 billion a year. That $1.7 billion would cut into the state budget's $25 billion deficit.

Naturally, when that much money is involved, those on the receiving end squawk to keep it, which is exactly what's going on. The League of California Cities is among those doing the loudest squawking.

Pretty much every city in the state is involved in the program. At last count there were 425 redevelopment agencies in California. Among them is Victorville, which, for example, spent $7.6 million from funds derived from the state's redevelopment program between fiscal years 2000-2001 and 2007-2008.

The stated aim of redevelopment agencies is to revitalize blighted areas within a city's boundaries, the goal being to designate properties as blighted so they can be turned over to private developers, and thereby create jobs by moving those areas from tax-absorbing to taxpaying entities via property taxes and more jobs.

Does the program work? We don't know, but we'd sure like to see some figures from the City of Victorville regarding jobs created. We know, for instance, that the former George Air Force Base was transformed into the Southern California Logistics Airport via an RDA program, and that there are certainly projects developed on the base that have yielded significant revenue. The first natural gas-fired power plant there, VVI, has returned some $39 million in tax dollars to Victorville and various and sundry other government agencies in the area since going on line several years back. Among those recipients is, for instance, the Mojave Water Agency, which has collected some $200,000 as its share over those years.

Still, there are those who say RDAs are a net drain on California's economy. According to a Dec. 31, 2010, report by state Controller John Chiang, redevelopment created just 14,723 jobs statewide in fiscal year 2008-09. That's precious few jobs for the expenditure of $1.7 billion. And even if Brown gets his way and wins legislative approval to put a $12 billion tax increase on the June statewide ballot, we think hard-pressed taxpayers will reject the proposal. If that happens, Brown has said, closing the $25 billion shortfall would have to come from budget cuts. We don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. It will force legislators to face reality, and a sort of triage will result. That is, those things most necessary to the welfare of the state's citizens will be determined, and the least useful will fall by the wayside. Good.